A famous quote by Ramakrishna Paramahansa
Jato Mat, Tato Path
This essentially means as many faiths, so many ways.
This succinctly represents the essence of the thoughts being tried to express in this article. The existence of so many traditions, religions, faiths, and spiritual practices has always perplexed me and led me to question their veracity. From a logical perspective, it seems quite dubious that if there is only one universal truth then how can there be so many accounts of it? Each faith states a different fact about the nature of the ultimate truth and a different path to realizing it. And to make it even more confusing and suspicious, each of them except a few like Jainism, claims their ends and means as the only true ones.
The higher vs lower consciousness
The presence of multiple paths to spirituality or a higher consciousness presupposes the existence of two different domains and the divide between lower and higher. Is such a division of existence a reality or a mere fantasy? What is the proof of this claim?
The vivid experiences and means of thousands of sages documented in the age-old scriptures present strong facts of validation. Throughout the culture of the world, rich literary works exist that not only bring before us extraordinary experiences but also ways to reproduce them. Countless have followed the means and reached the same state of being. Yet, the so-called modern-day intelligent mind dismisses these facts as irrational circumstances under the guise of hallucination or unhealthy minds. And the so-called humble busy minds strapped to the idea of family, norms, consumption, and debt, do not find any need to think beyond the regular existence of life. However, someone else’s experience shouldn’t be the sole ground for acceptance. There should be better means.
The proof should lie in self-knowledge. If a higher consciousness can be known or realized by a sufficiently large number of people then it has existence. In Indian Philosophy, Pramana or the means of knowledge has been an interesting topic throughout history. Many types have been accepted including inference, analogy, presumption, scriptures, etc. but the most important means is that of pratyaksha or perception. It is the direct intuition of knowledge and beyond the perceived information of sensory organs alone. Almost every one of us in some rare occasions of relaxed state directly experiences an intuition of a spiritual realm that transcends our regular transactional phenomenal experiences. Although shortlived and uncommon, the intuition should serve as evidence at least for further investigation.
The spiritual realm is not an awe-inspiring amusing experience for life meant for a few moments of relaxation. It is supposed to change your life and upgrade your being giving you a new life of freedom just like the metamorphosis gives rise to a butterfly with wings. It transforms you from within, shows you the path to break free from all your sufferings, and bestows the courage to march towards it with unflattering determination. In its pure essence, the transition into higher consciousness is the ultimate goal of human life. Everyone comes to understand this facet of life when the appropriate time comes and the inspiration to leap is made plentily available by the universe.
Different Paths to Spirituality
Religions were the traditional ways of bringing the ways of reaching higher consciousness to the masses. Different cultures of different ages brought about the emergence of a variety of religions with their varied techniques. The original traditions were meant to deal with situations at that particular time. For example, Islam came with a tradition of no idol worship when the fights related to idol worship culminated amongst the polytheists in the Middle East. The practices and methods are not only divisive ways to act as temporal solutions to specific problems of their age but also ingrain in them the essence of their culture and personalities.
There are around 10,000 distinct religions documented and maybe even more exist which we are unaware of. Major spiritual practices like Yoga and vipassana are not organized religions. Apart from religion, several spiritual practices exist that do not have any documented scripts with pure oral transmission of knowledge. Each one of them has different aspects, different attributes, and different ways to reach the ultimate goal of life.
Solving the mystery of multiple paths to Spirituality
On the surface, this entire system of different paths to spirituality looks unacceptable. But every tradition has produced saints that have nothing but blessings to humanity. Each of them has a different account of the higher consciousness. It is equally perplexing and mysterious to think of how the ultimate truth can have different narratives.
Let’s try to employ our logic to get closer to the truth. However, it must be understood that getting to the truth by reading or mere comprehension is not possible as it is beyond words and perception.
To get to Mars, different countries utilized different means and launched their vehicles from different positions in space. Their attempts and means varied according to their culture, ways of perception, predispositions, tenets, and tendencies. All of them are the means to reach the same finite object. If differences in the approaches to getting to a finite conception can be appreciated so easily then why does the existence of different approaches to an infinite conception sound so bizarre that time after time fights have been emerging to disapprove of other practices? Why can’t there be peace, acceptance, and mutual respect for each other’s methods?
The absolute truth is infinite. We can’t comprehend infinity with our finite senses and thoughts. You can read more about infinity here. Each point in space and time forms a unit with its intrinsic definite nature. Every sentient being including us perceives the universe according to its definite character. You perceive the rain with joy but a person late for a meeting gets anxious due to the same rain. Each human has its tendencies and personality to approach a problem that makes everyone unique. But each uniqueness is a definite locus in the all-embracing canvas of infinity. Each locus has to be situated in a different position with respect to infinity otherwise no difference can exist.
Each person from their unique standpoint, cultured through traditions, outlooks, intellect, faith, and so on, looks towards the all-encompassing infinity and finds a unique way to reach there. This in no way should disregard the means discovered by another person from their unique standpoint. Neither one’s discovery entails a universal method applicable to every other human because not everyone is located in the same position in consciousness.
Through your curiosity, intellect, and association with the wise, you have to figure out the path appropriate for you. You might have to try a couple of paths before stumbling upon the right one but usually, your predispositions would automatically attract you towards the appropriate path. In the beginning, doubts may act as a hindrance to fortifying your practice around it. It is a natural tendency of the mind and continuous self-reading around the practices as well as mentorship helps you to integrate the right practice suitable for you.
Let there be respect for each other’s traditions, beliefs, and practices, and may there be peace as we make our journey towards the one infinity.
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